Red Sox deck Cards, one win from title

Boston's David Ross is tagged out by St. Louis' Yadier Molina as he tries to score from second on a single by Jacoby Ellsbury in the seventh.

ST. LOUIS — The Red Sox have left here for good, returning home for a chance to do something no Boston team has done since Thomas R. Marshall was vice president. Win a World Series at Fenway Park.

With the remarkable David Ortiz getting three more hits, Jon Lester getting another World Series win, David Ross and Xander Bogaerts each getting two big hits, and Koji Uehara picking up another save, Boston beat the Cardinals here on Monday night, 3-1.

The Sox lead the World Series, 3 games to 2. The teams are off today and play Game 6 at 8:07 p.m. on Wednesday at Fenway. John Lackey will start for Boston, Michael Wacha for St. Louis.

The Red Sox have been in position to win the whole thing at home just once since they beat the Chicago Cubs at Fenway in six games in 1918. That was in 1975, when Boston won a classic Game 6, then lost a heart-rending Game 7.

Lester outpitched Adam Wainwright, who gave the Cardinals seven strong innings but lost.

Ortiz and Lester have doubled up on Reggie Jackson, the Yankees' Mr. October. Together, Ortiz and Lester have become Misters October with a series of remarkable performances.

Lester went 7? innings and gave up a solo home run to Matt Holliday in the fourth. That was the first earned run Lester allowed in three World Series — and still the only one. He is 3-0 in the World Series with an 0.43 ERA. Only Bill Dinneen (1903), Ernie Shore (1915 '16) and Babe Ruth (1916, '18) also won three World Series games for Boston.

"I was telling Jonny Gomes," Lester said. "You show up Feb. 1, play 162 games — now about 180 total — and it comes down to one game. That's pretty special."

Lester is 4-1 with a 1.56 ERA in five playoff starts in 2013.

"Given the stage, given how strong he's been through the course of this year," manager John Farrell said, "and particularly what he's doing career-wise in the postseason, this was a big game. We talked before the game. We felt this was going to be a classic pitchers' duel. It was shaping up that way and fortunately we were able to break through in the seventh inning. Jon Lester was fantastic tonight."

The seventh inning was pivotal.

Boston got a run in the first on consecutive doubles by Dustin Pedroia and Ortiz, then could not get another. Holliday's home run tied it. Wainwright started to wobble a bit in the sixth when the Sox got two hits off him, but he didn't crack until the seventh.

With one out, Bogaerts singled to center, then Stephen Drew worked a walk. Ross hit a ground-rule double down the left field line to make it 2-1 and put runners at second and third with one out.

Lester batted and grounded out weakly to Wainwright, but Jacoby Ellsbury got a pad run with a single to center. That scored Drew, but Ross was thrown out at the plate.

Lester was pitching so well, Farrell never considered hitting for him.

"Not even if that game was tied," Farrell said. "Where his pitch count was, as effective as he was, we were looking for at least one more inning. We were able to do that and fortunately, again, David Ross comes through big for the go-ahead run."

Farrell finally called for Uehara with two outs in the eighth. Four outs was all the Sox expected from their closer, and he got them in order, but it wasn't without some drama. David Freese hit a one-out double off Lester, then the Sox starter got Pete Kozma on a fly ball to left.

In came Uehara to face pinch hitter Matt Adams. Uehara, who had looked a bit tired in recent appearances, struck out Adams on three pitches, then got the side in quick order in the ninth. Not too, too long after that, the Red Sox were on a plane, headed for home.

"When a team is down, 3-2, that's your biggest challenge," Ortiz said. "We've got to come back on Wednesday and play hard again. I'm telling you — it's gonna get loud out there. Our fans are baseball fans, they love the game, love how we've been going at it every day, and I'm pretty sure it's gonna be pretty loud out there."